The Prophet of Love

Asalamualaikum WRWB. A whole month on, and the 7^th of March brought with it yet another inspirational evening with teachers more remarkable then one can ever relate. I unfortunately missed Sheikh Abdul-Hakim’s talk; Allah’s will; though I was [and still am] greatly disappointed; but you just can’t get out and move those cars out of the way in a traffic jam, or make those red lights change faster can you? Still, I can hardly complain as I was able to attend and see, for the first time, with my own eyes, Sheikh Habib-Ali! Alhumdulilah!

As I arrived, Sheikh Babikr was making his way to the stage. We got a place up on the gallery, with a nice clear view of everything. I could see the back of Sheikh Habib-Ali, his turban stood out from all the rest and even though I hadn’t seen him fully yet, my heart was racing like nobodies business!

[Before I start I just want to say that these notes are from me, they are very close to what was said by the Sheikh, but nonetheless, any insufficiency is from me and only me; so please do forgive me if any are present.]

Sheikh Babikr’s presence was illuminating, I have seen him many a time before, and each time, his face just seems to shine an extra bit more. May Allah bless him! The following is from the notes I made of Sheikh’s speech:

·        Tonight the topic is about love [The Sheikh says it’s his most favourite subject], so we shall talk about love.

·        Love is a word we predominantly take lightly; but for Allah, it is the greatest thing you can have.

·        To say to someone, ‘I love u’ is probably the best thing u can say if it is true and honest; not love that comes from desire or lustful thinking; but the absolute love that Allah created us for.

·        The events in Denmark are too trivial to talk about, our prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) is greater then that.

·        We must remember that the insults are minute compared to the insults the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) faced during his lifetime; but Allah (SWT) said to him, ‘stay on the side of forgiveness.’ So the greatest thing, for the greatest believers, is to always find it in themselves to forgive.

·        When there were protests going on against Salman Rushdie in the late 80’s, the Sheikh started writing poetry reflecting the anger he felt, but he knew that he could never make these thoughts public as they were words of anger and insult. And that is not the example of our prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), who, in his lifetime, never ever insulted, or reacted in an angry way against anyone, especially not those who were rude or insulting towards him.

·        [The Sheikh recited a beautiful poem of love that he had personally written for our beloved prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). I could never communicate just how delightful that poem was, but it did indeed express genuine love. SubhanAllah. Unfortunately I could not write it all down; I only managed to write the following few lines, but I know this will inshAllah give you an idea of the magnificence of this poem] ‘Oh beloved of Allah (SWT), oh you pure soul, ask Allah to purify my heart through your dua, for your dua is accepted in the sight of my Lord, who created this kingdom, and made you the highest of the rulers of this kingdom. All the creations are in His (SWT) hands, but we would not be today here, and none would have been in the past or in the future, had you not been. May Allah (SWT) shower you with His blessings and mercy; praise is to our Lord, my Creator, the One who named you Mohammad (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam,. [SUBHANALLH!!!]

·        When people shout and scream in the name of love, remember, it is not in the name of love. Many of us do it because it is all that we are taught. The Sheikh went to read Jummah Namaz and the Imam, in response to the events in Denmark, was saying to the people, ‘we are not donkeys to be ridden on, we are lions, we must roar!’ And at the end of the Khutba everyone was roaring; all because the sheikh made them feel like that! But we know that this is not the example of our prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam).

·        Love is everything. The Sheikh said, “before I got married, I went to see my future wife and I said to her, ‘I love Allah first, then Rasullallah (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), then my sheikh, then my mother, and then you!’ (Daddies don’t mind, they are men, they understand!)” [LOL!]

·        The greatest of love is the love you invest for your Creator. Never ever put anybody before Allah. And then love the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). The Sheikh said, ‘When I was little my mother said to me just recite La-ilaha-illalah-muhammadur-rasullulah, upon my asking why, she would say because it is the most truthful statement you will ever make!’

·        Try and find Allah in your hearts; Allah says that keep only me in your heart; take Allah seriously, for if you did, you will find him wherever you are; and the only way you can find this love in your life is by loving and thinking about the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) everyday.

·        We need to see the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) before us; we need to see everything he does, and hear everything he says, and implement him and his teachings.

·        Our Prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) stood up for everyone who was weak, disadvantaged or a slave. Didn’t he free the slaves? Didn’t he help the unprivileged? Didn’t he bring women from the life of dishonour into a life of dignity? People who say that women’s place is at home are not from the prophet’s nation because the prophet educated 700 women. Aisha (RA), through her love for him (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) and his love for her, became the best women scholar. It was only in the 70s that women were given the vote here, whereas our prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), over 1400 years ago, gave women dignity and honour.

·        The Prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) taught people to give respect and dignity to their mothers.

·        Ask yourself, do I have the love of Allah in my heart? If you can’t find the answer then ask yourself, am I looking at the Prophet with the eye of love and wisdom? And if you can’t find the answer then ask yourself, do I respect women in general? And if you can’t find the answer, then ask yourself, do I love my mother? And the love of your mom will come in the way you treat her and respect her.

·        Many of us claim to love but we are indeed distant from love. Love is not just something you say. If you love them, you will respect and honour them. If at anytime you disrespect them, then indeed, you do not love them.

·        The burning of flags, the burning of embassies, etc is all wrong. Just think what would happen if all the embassies were to be burned?

·        If you love Allah (SWT), love and behave like the Prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). For he said ‘if you don’t love me more then your family, your children, and more than anything in this world, then you don’t have faith.’ He (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) would point at his grandsons and his daughter (May Allah shower peace and blessings on them) and say ‘whoever loves them, he will be by my side on the day of judgment.’

·        If you love the Prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), look after his family, his decedents. Today we need to give dignity to ourselves by turning to love Rasullallah and his family. As we can’t see the prophet, we should be honoured to see someone from his family like Habib-Ali. If you look at Habib-Ali and don’t find a little bit of love for him in your hearts, no matter whether you like what he is saying or not, then you have no faith.

·        Once, Aisha (RA) was sewing with her needle; it fell to the ground and she was unable to see it. The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) walked in and she immediately could see the needle reflecting on the floor from the light of his face! [SubhanAllah]

·        Ask yourself why you are deprived from seeing the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) in your dreams? Indeed, that is a tremendous gift for those who truly love him (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). If you are in a desert and you are thirsty, you will dream of streams, water and the like. If you are hungry, you will dream of varieties of food. If you truly love the prophet and you are eager to see him, he will be present in your dream!

·        Live in tolerance and peace, follow and love the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). Live and let Live!

[SubhanAllah, this was most certainly a bravura speech. Any shortcomings or deficiencies are from me, and I am more then certain that my weak words have not given enough light or reflected clearly what the Sheikh said, but inshaAllah I hope it makes sense and is helpful, even if a tiny amount]

Before we were blessed by S. Habib Ali’s talk, we were made audience to a pair of sisters, new to Islam, who lightly rapped their experiences and their love for the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) with such excellence. The words they used and their lyrical flow was truly amazing, and I am more then certain that I was not the only one they had in tears with their outstanding lyrics and sentiments; May Allah bless them. The brothers from Shaam were on next and they really set the mood with their God gifted voices and jovial lyrics.

And so Sheikh Habib-Ali took the stage, and as we all stood up out of respect, I felt I was going to fall over out of awe. Though I was up on the gallery, his presence on the stage was so luminous that it felt that he was standing equal to the gallery barrier. Wow! I’m going to go straight into his speech before I get carried away in describing him and the affect he had on me; may Allah preserve him!

·        Sheikh showed us three pictures. The first of a poor girl searching for food in a pile of rubbish. The second of a father crying with the body of his dead son in his hand (the results of injustice). The third of protesters of the cartoons, their faces disfigured in their rage.

·        The first two images are images we see often; but both reflect patience and earnestness, attributes that will be rewarded by Allah (SWT). Destitution like these can be caused by circumstances outside of ones hands; when one shows patience in these hardships and unjustified killings, then we can hope for a reward from Allah.

·        In the biography of the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), it says that the prophet and the sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) would tie rocks to their bellies to reduce their hunger (i.e. be patient). This girl looking for food amongst rubbish is showing the example of patience as the prophet did.

·        When you look at this father, with the body of his dead son in his hands, and the hurt on his face, caused by injustice, you see in him an example of the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) who went through something similar when he held the disfigured body of his uncle Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) in the battle of Uhud.

·        The problem with the last picture is that it reflects anger, an attribute Allah will not reward. Also, a problem rises when you try to look for an example from the prophet’s life that may reveal something of the same nature as this picture.

·        Yes the beloved prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) was angry; he would be angered, but only for the cause of the truth. He would never be angered for himself or to give victory to himself. He, his family, his companions, all would only be angered if truth was covered up.

·        Umar Ibn Khattab (RA) once looked at the prophet and saw that his face had been cut and that he was bleeding. Ibn Khattab was so enraged at what he saw that he said, ‘oh messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to curse them for what they have done to you’. The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) replied, ‘Umar, I was sent as a mercy.’ Ibn Khattab then said, ‘but Rasullallah, they have caused you to bleed.’ The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) just lifted his hands up and said, ‘oh Allah, have mercy on the people.’

·        Yes the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) fought for truth, but never was his heart full of rancour and not once did his face look like that of the man in the third picture.

·        We [us living here in the west] are part of this Muslim world. But we are also part of the western world. This is something we need to ponder over. Throughout centuries, the Muslims have fought hard in order to establish mosques in cities like London, Paris, and Berlin; and WE are lucky that we have this opportunity open to us, that we have mosques in these places. We Muslims are part of this society yet we still talk about Islam and the west as two separate identities.

·        Now, Islam and the west is one thing. Islam is part of the west.

·        Two important questions: 1) Why is it that western society mocks Islam or fears it? 2) How can we change this?

·        The answer: 1) Because we have ceased to follow the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam). 2) We need to enter the sublime presence of the prophet of love (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam).

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘keep Allah in your mind wherever you are, and treat people courteously.’ (Important point, the latter hadith says ‘people’ not just ‘Muslims’!) [I have to add here that S. Habib Ali said in English ‘only Muslim?’ and smiled. Aww mashAllah he sounded ever so cute!]

·         The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘the most beloved action to Allah, after the obligatory actions, is to bring delight to heart of a Muslim.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘if there are three people present, two should not converse privately, as this will dismay the third man.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘love for people what you would love for yourself’ (again, it says ‘people’, not just ‘Muslims’)

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘the greatest of good deeds is to connect those who separate, to unite those who fall out and to forgive those who wrong you.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘the most beloved slaves to Allah are those who are sincerest to others.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘engage gifts and mutual love will rise, shake hands and hatred will fall.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘shake hands so that rancour can be dissolved from your hearts’.

·        We may have heard these hadiths before, but do we truly reflect and act upon them? We need to live by them, and take on board the sayings of the prophet.

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘these act will keep you sincere in your bothers love for u; greeting him when you see him; making room for him in a gathering; and calling him by his name is.’ (This hadith teaches us how to inject love in our hearts for each other.)

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘hearts are naturally inclined to love those who are kind to us and hate those who are cruel to us.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said ‘those who show mercy have Allah’s mercy shown to them. Have mercy on those here on earth and Allah there in heaven will have mercy on you.’

·        The prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) said, ‘a kind word is charity’, (yet you will hear some say that kind words show your weakness, how ignorant. Never belittle any deed of kindness, even that of greeting your brother with a cheerful countenance.)

·        Implement these teachings.

·        Teach people what our prophet taught us. If you bring people to know about the prophet (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam), then the prophet will come to know about you! [SubhanAllah]

·        Make him alive in your hearts and show this to people through your actions.

·        Wear t-shirts and the like saying that he (Sallaluhu-Alaihi-Wasalam) is alive in your hearts, but don’t just wear them, make it real, make him alive in your hearts! Show people what Islam really is by being like him!

[Again I want to say that any shortcomings are from me and not the Sheikh; please do forgive me for them; I hope the above makes sense and is somewhat helpful to those who read.]

Alhumdulilah! May we all learn and implement inshAllah! JazakAllah Khair to the organisers, May Allah increase you in all that’s good and help and guide you always; Ameen. My salaams and duas to you all; please do remember this sinner in your prayers. Walaikumsalam.